Try the Cannoli
by BroodyGirl23
Summary: And as he walked away from Sam's place, the only thing that plagued his mind was the fact that he just made yet another friend in Port Charles. Someone he knew he could get close to who he would eventually let down. *Sam/Dante friendship oneshot*


_I figured my two favorite GH characters could use a fic together, so here's a Dante/Sam friendship oneshot for you all. This is dedicated to Toph, who loves Dante and Sam almost (okay, maybe even sometimes more) than i do. Enjoy._

* * *

**Try The Cannoli**

_By: BroodyGirl23_

Dante Falconeri was a smooth talker, and so far, it had worked to his advantage. He worked his way up from Zacchara scum to one of Sonny's most trusted soldiers, and he had weaseled his way into the lives of the Port Charles citizens who were close to Sonny, and also, and he thanked God for this, managed to weasel his way into Lulu Spencer's heart. He knew how to play a good game, and he knew how to think with or without his emotions getting the better of him.

It was his emotions that got him where he was to begin with. A young boy whose only father figure was taken away by a bullet he knew was set in motion by Sonny Corinthos. A good man, a cop, who was nothing but dignified. A man who deserved to live, who fell by the hands of a man who didn't.

And so Dante Falconeri became Dominic Pirelli. An undercover cop who had one mission, and one mission only. Bring down Sonny Corinthos.

"Okay now we gotta run down to the Zacchara people and figure out who stands where when it hits the fan." He sat alone at a table in Sonny's Italian restaurant front, speaking business on his cell phone. He listened to Ronnie, the officer whose job it seemed was to babysit Dante on his undercover mission, as he rambled on and on about Dante needing to kick this into high gear. It was bad enough that Ronnie constantly showed up places to talk, but now he was calling on him to check up.

He knew he had a lot of work to do, and he knew this whole Claudia mess was his perfect opportunity to do so. But Ronnie hounding him every few minutes wasn't helping. He had Johnny wanting to help him get to the bottom of what happened to Claudia and access into Sonny's business enough to figure it out without Ronnie's badgering. Getting annoyed, he decided to just end the conversation, no matter if Ronnie wanted to keep chewing his ear off. He needed time to think, and Ronnie wasn't helping.

"Okay, that's all I'm talking about." He hung up the phone, even though Ronnie was in mid sentence, and looked up as the bell above the restaurant door rang as someone made their way through.

He had been introduced and even become close with a good number of people in Port Charles. There was Sonny, of course, along with Jason and Johnny and the other men who worked for him. There was also Carly and her boys, and her husband Jax, who like Ronnie, was starting to get on his last nerve. He was familiar with Kristina and through Morgan had even met her little sister Molly on few occasions. And then of course there was Lulu.

And that was just naming a few.

But the dark haired woman who made her way into the restaurant he had only seen a few times at a glance. He knew slim to nothing about her, other than the fact that she seemed fairly close with Jason Morgan and looked like she could raise hell wherever she wanted, whenever she wanted.

He also knew she was the one who brought Carly and her baby to the hospital, and he would place money on the fact that she knew more about that night than what she told the police.

"Mario, hey." She greeted the waiter on staff as she walked in, her heels clanking on the hardwood floors with every step. "Do you know if, is Jason here?"

Mario shrugged. "I just started my shift."

Knowing that this woman could be the key to everything he needed to know about the night Claudia disappeared, Dante stood up, interrupting. "Actually, Jason Morgan is not here right now. Can I help you with something?"

. . . . .

"Actually, Jason Morgan is not here right now. Can I help you with something?" Could he help her with something? Probably. But did she want it from him? No.

She had seen Dominic a couple of times and knew that he was one of Sonny's newer men, and knowing that he obviously had no idea who she was or what exactly she wanted Jason for, she didn't really want to give him the time of the day. Frankly, it annoyed her that he just inserted himself into her conversation with Mario. "No. I'll just leave him a message on his answering machine." She turned to leave, not caring for idle chit chat.

"How about I buy you an expresso?" He said quickly, causing her to turn around to stare at him. "This place is famous for it's cannolis." He turned to face the waiter. "Two cannoli, two expressos, please." Was he seriously going to do this with her?

She let out a small laugh. Was this guy for real? "That's witty. If you're hitting on me, don't bother." There was a time she might have humored him and went along with the game, getting a free dessert it nothing else out of the exchange, but right now she had no patience for him. For this. She didn't know when it had happened, but at some point she once again only wanted Jason. And right now she wanted nothing else but to see him, and not bother with this guy. No matter how charming he might have been.

He smiled as he chucked back at her, and for a moment she caught herself thinking that his smile was one of the most adorable things she had ever seen. "Alright, alright. I'm much smoother when I'm hitting on someone. I mean I could if you want me too." Did this guy have an off switch? Or was he permanently set to flirt?

"No. Thanks." Was all she offered him as she turned, once again, to leave.

"Wait," he called after her, and against her better judgement, she stopped walking to hear what he had to say, "you're the one who brought Carly into the ER after her ordeal, right?" And there it was. They always had a catch.

"Yes I am." She said, knowing that she was going to have to go along with this guy for a moment, repeating the well constructed lie of how that night went in order to get him to leave her alone so she could get out of there and go find Jason. "And I told the cops everything I know." She could barely go anywhere without Johnny or anyone else who was at that party, which was basically the whole town, asking her to repeat the story.

"This is me." He said, indicating that he was just trying to talk about it and wasn't trying to question her like the police. "Do you have any idea what happened to Claudia?"

She looked at him skeptically. "Why would you want to know?"

. . . . .

"Why would you want to know?" Okay, so this woman wasn't as easy to discuss things with as he thought she would be. She crossed her arms across her chest looking at him expectantly, and he wracked his brain quickly to think of something to say to get her to talk.

It occurred to him that being as close with Jason Morgan as she seemed, she knew the business fairly well. "Look, you know who I am. There's going to be a lot of trouble here. I'm just trying to keep a lid on things. Claudia's disappeared, the natives are getting restless, Sonny has me and the rest of his men on high alert." She seemed to look less defensive, and he only hoped that he was smooth enough to get on her good side, if nothing else.

"Okay." She said, taking him a bit by surprise. "Well, I'll tell you exactly what I told the cops. I went to the cabin, Carly was giving birth, all I was worried about was getting her and the baby to the hospital."

A well constructed lie. "No sign of Claudia?" He knew it didn't quite add up, and he knew she probably knew it, too.

"No." She breathed out. "I mean, no sign of Claudia. For all I know she was in the car, crawled out, died in the woods somewhere, or who knows, maybe someone helped her escape." He tried not to roll his eyes at the way she was obviously just humoring him. "Either way, I don't care. Anything else?" He had to hand it to her. She was good. But he hadn't been a cop for all these years just to be duped by some woman in leather who could tell a few lies.

But knowing he wouldn't get anywhere with her by pushing, he flashed a smile. "Yeah, I still think you should try the cannoli."

She stared at him for a moment, and he couldn't help but continue to smirk at her. "Cute. Not that cute." She replied, and turned to make her way out. He decided to let her go this time, watching as she stepped out the door.

The conversation was ended for now, but he knew it was far from over. If their conversation told him one thing, it was that Sam McCall knew more than she was willing to tell. And she was probably his best bet at getting the information he needed.

. . . . .

It was a long week. A long stressful week. She knew Jason was torn up over Michael's situation, and she did her best to talk him through it. To stay objective and help him work through whatever he needed to, just as she did years ago when Michael was kidnapped. She listened to him vent, she gave him her opinions and advice when needed, and she even accompanied him on bike rides all night, keeping him company as he took the time to clear his head.

She wanted to be there for him, and she was. And during their time together, he had reciprocated as well. They were together intimately a good amount of times during the course of the week, and, even though the horror of being caught half naked with Jason devouring her neck by her mother still consuming her mind, the talk that came after it was short, but something she definitely needed.

She and Jason were in a relationship, and she was ready to admit that. Though she knew they would eventually have to address the past, they both agreed for now that they wouldn't, mostly at Sam's request. She loved that she had the ball mostly in her court, Jason had said it himself. He didn't want to push her into giving him anything she wasn't ready for. She needed the ball to be in her court. And the longer it was, the more comfortable she was passing the ball to Jason every now and then.

She wrapped her jacket around her tighter, the brisk November air getting colder as each day passed by, and made her way into Kelly's. Jason had asked her to meet her at Sonny's restaurant later that night for dinner, but she was already starving and knew her stomach would never wait until then. Some Kelly's fries were exactly what she needed to hold her over until then.

"Sam! What a pleasant surprise! What can I get you?" Mike asked as she made her way over to the counter.

"Hi Mike." She said with a smile. "Give me some of your greasiest, saltiest, most golden fries." She told him, her stomach growling at the thought.

He told her he'd get them right out for her, and turned to get them ready, and she sat down on one of the chairs and turned to look to see if anyone worth saying hello to was there. A few people from around town who she didn't really know at all, so she assumed she was off the hook of having to chit chat with anyone, when she spotted them. Dominic Pirelli and Lulu Spencer sat at one of the tables.

Sam noticed right off the bat that Lulu's annoyed expression matched the one she was sure she wore when she encountered Dominic last week, though there was something different on Lulu's face. Behind the annoyance was something else entirely. Amusement? No, it was more than that. She wondered if Dominic had actually won Lulu over with his charm.

Lulu suddenly rose from the table, mumbling something at Dominic that Sam couldn't quite hear, before storming off and out of Kelly's. Maybe the look Sam thought she saw on Lulu's face wasn't really there, after all.

"I'm guessing you found that amusing?" His voice broke her out of her thoughts when she realized Dominic was talking to her. "Don't worry. She'll be back. She can't stay away from me." Sam couldn't help but roll her eyes. He would be that guy. The pathological flirt who thought all the girls wanted him. "Well, hey. Since I'm now all alone at a two person table and you seem to be alone as well, why don't you take a seat?"

She turned her head to look over at Mike, hoping he had her fries ready for her to grab and take off with, but he was busy chatting with another customer. With a shrug, she figured sitting with Dominic couldn't hurt. It would at least be a way to waste time, getting her mind off of the fact that her stomach was probably in the process of eating itself she was so hungry. She took a seat, and he smirked at her in a way that said "Ha! You're sitting with me. I win."

"So do you irritate all the women in Port Charles? Or are me and Lulu just the lucky ones." She asked, and he laughed. Something about his laugh made her smile, as she eased up a bit, dropping her defenses.

"Irritating I apparently only save for you." He told her. "Lulu? Nah, Lulu likes it. We've been doing this back and forth thing for a while now. I think she's starting to warm up to me though. I saved her life, after all, you know. I figure that gave me a few good brownie points."

Sam raised an eyebrow. She knew what it was like to have your own personal hero every once in a while. "Saved her life?"

"Long story." He answered with a chuckle. "Let's just say I'm pretty sure it put me above the 'slightly annoying and maybe amusing' line and into the 'maybe he's more amusing than annoying after all' line. It's only a matter of time before Lulu gives in."

She shook her head disapprovingly at him. "You know, there are better ways to get a girl to like you than being so annoying they eventually just give in." She pointed out. "How long did you say you've been nagging her for? I saw you two at the carnival. That was like a month ago. Don't you think she'd have given in by now?"

"How long?" He paused for a moment to think about it. "What's today, the fourteenth? That would mean, give or take a thirty or thirty-one day long month, carry the four, subtract a Tuesday..." He rambled on, trying to be cute, but she suddenly tuned him out altogether, her stomach dropping and her eyes growing wide as she realized what he said.

"Today is the fourteenth?" She interrupting him.

He hesitated for a moment to think about it, making sure. "Yeah, yeah. I'm pretty sure today is the fourteenth."

"Of November?" She needed to be absolutely sure.

"Yeah, of November." He answered, sounding confused by her sudden need to know the date.

"Oh my God." She said, bringing a shaky hand up to her face. She couldn't believe it. It was already the fourteenth. She had been so caught up in Michael and Claudia and Sonny's whole mess that she had completely lost track of the days. She had been so caught up in everything, she didn't even realize the day passed by. "I have to...I have to go."

Her french fries didn't matter anymore, all hunger was lost. She didn't care that as she rose from the table quickly and suddenly, she was confusing the hell out of Dominic, who stared at her as if she were crazy. She was so busy the past few weeks she had completely forgot.

She grabbed her bag and ran out of Kelly's, not even noticing that Dominic stood up and followed her.

. . . . . .

When he had noticed Sam, alone in Kelly's waiting for her food, he decided to use Lulu's running out on him as an excuse to get her over to sit. He knew if he could only have some sort of a civil conversation with her, he could try and weasel out some information on what really happened with Claudia.

He thought it was going well, she was talking and laughing with him about his personal life with Lulu, and she seemed almost at ease. Her defenses were dropping, and he knew if he could only keep this up, he might be able to get into what she knew without pushing her away or seeming suspicious.

He thought they were having fun, going back and forth and bickering in a friendly way as they discussed how long he had been chasing after Lulu for, when suddenly her whole demeanor changed. He had only seen Sam McCall on few occasions, but on every one of those occasions, she was a fierce, independently strong looking woman, who knew what she want, how she wanted it, and how she would get it. And even though she was one of the most petite and small woman he had ever met, the way she had always carried herself made her look taller than she actually was.

But suddenly she wasn't that woman he had seen on every occasion. She looked small and frail, and, would he dare say it, vulnerable. He hardly knew Sam McCall, but what he did know was that she barely went about looking vulnerable. "I have to...I have to go." She said suddenly, and practically leaped out of her chair, running out of Kelly's like a bat out of hell.

He sat for a moment, completely baffled as to what had just happened or what he had said to bring the sudden change on. Forgetting his whole reason for talking to her in the first place, forgetting anything that had to do with Claudia or Sonny or the mob, he got up out of his chair and chased after her, wanting to make sure that she was okay.

He was practically out of breath by the time he reached her destination, God the woman could move quickly, and he stopped to catch his breath as he stared at the entrance to the cemetery. He didn't really want to go waltzing around a cemetery, but the gentleman he was raised into being made him know he had to make sure Sam was okay. In and out, that was all he would have to do. Find Sam, check on her from a distance and make sure she would be alright, then get the heck out of that cemetery.

He walked slowly. As silly as he knew it was, he didn't want to make any quick movements that might disturb the dead. The cemetery gave him the creeps, which was funny to say the least. He was putting his life on the line every day as an undercover cop, but the cemetery, the idea of ghosts, was the thing that scared him.

It took him a bit to find her, but when he did, he froze in his place. She looked exceptionally small, but exceptionally strong all at the same time. She knelt in front of a small marker, a grave he knew was small for a reason. He watched her as she let tears slip down her face, not bothering to wipe them away, and he wondered for a moment if right there, in front of that grave, was the only place she would let herself be vulnerable without being ashamed.

He took a few quiet steps closer, not wanting to disturb her, but at the same time wondering about the grave. He knew curiosity was making him nosy, and on most occasions he would know better and just walk away, but for some reason he just couldn't.

The leaves from the trees had fallen, and quiet wasn't something the ground would allow, crunching with each step. But he continued to walk forward, positioning himself close enough for him to read the words etched in stone. _Baby Girl McCall_. Three words that made his heart immediately break for this woman he barely knew.

He knew she must have been too absorbed in her thoughts and in her baby girl's grave to notice him, and she continued talking. "Your big brother needs you to help him out, more than ever. This whole mess with Claudia has effected so many people who would have loved you and who you would have loved. Michael, your dad. Well, both your dads." She smiled through her tears. "They all need guidance right now."

All thoughts of Claudia were gone from Dante's head. He didn't even think about the fact that if he listened to Sam talk to her baby long enough, she might have accidentally give him the real story of what happened. He didn't feel right about that. He cleared his throat.

She turned around, startled, facing him. "What are you doing here?"

. . . . .

She hardly noticed the trip from Kelly's to the cemetery. Everything was a blur until she reached her daughter's grave. _Baby Girl McCall_. Her Baby Girl McCall. Her Lila. Her Lila who would have been five years old last week, and she was too caught up in life and in the mess that was Claudia to remember.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the freshly cut bouquet of pink roses placed next to the grave. Someone had remembered. She wondered if it were Jason, and she knew she would have to ask him about it when she saw him later on. At least someone who loved Lila remembered. She cursed herself for the hundredth time since leaving Kelly's that she hadn't. "I'm so sorry, baby girl." She spoke softly.

The tears immediately formed in her eyes. No matter how much time passed, she would never be able to sit here without getting emotional. She would always feel the hurt from that day, the day she woke up to find out her baby was gone. And though Jason was wonderful and got her through it, it would always be there, and her baby would not be. "I'm so sorry I forgot. I could make excuses and say that I was too focused on Claudia and too focused on Michael and too focused on Jason, but I can't do that. You are always number one to me, and I can't say I'm sorry enough that I missed your birthday."

She reached her hand up and traced the letters on the stone. "I miss you so much, still. I think I always will. I like to think that you're happy wherever you are. And that your Uncle Danny is looking out for you. I'm glad the two of you have each other. Being alone is a horrible thing." She paused for a moment. "But you don't have to worry about me. I'm not alone. I have your grandmother, though we both know how much she drives me crazy and how much the two of us have the most dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship ever. I have Kristina and Molly, too. Oh, Kristina is so beautiful now, she's so grown up, yet still so young. She's sixteen, and she has you to thank." Sam smiled. "And I guess I have Jason, too. But I'm not even going to try and explain to you about all that. Just know that Jason, your dad for all intensive purposes, he's watching out for me. I'm never alone when I'm with him."

She sighed, her smile fading at the thought of Jason. "He...he needs you right now. To guide him somehow. I've always thought of you as my guardian angel, maybe you can be Jason's, too? He's so lost. After everything that is going on, he's questioning things and thinking things I've never heard him question or think before. He's scared for Michael. And I am, too. I'm afraid for both of them. And for Sonny and Carly and everyone that Claudia has managed to impact. You know, Michael would have loved you. He would have looked out for you like he looks after Kristina and Morgan. And he needs you right now, too. Your big brother needs you to help him out, more than ever. This whole mess with Claudia has effected so many people who would have loved you and who you would have loved. Michael, your dad. Well, both your dads." She laughed through her tears. "They all need guidance right now."

She was interrupted by the sudden sound of a throat being cleared behind her. Startled, she turned around, her tear filled eyes meeting his concerned ones. Dominic Pirelli. "What are you doing here?"

She immediately wondered if she had said too much. She thought back and wondered if, at any point, she had spilled out that Michael had killed Claudia and that they were all just covering it up. Her heart beat faster at the thought that, had he not cleared his throat, letting his presence known, she probably would have confessed the whole thing. "I wanted to make sure you were okay." He told her.

"I'm fine." She said, wiping the tears from her eyes and standing up off the soft ground, beginning to walk away. She stopped walking when she realized he wasn't following her. She turned to find him kneeling down in front of her baby girl.

She was about to tell him to get the hell away from her daughter, but when he began to speak, she did nothing but listen.

. . . .

"I'm fine." She said, and he watched as her defensives immediately went back up. She wiped the tears away from her eyes furiously, and got up to begin walking away. He was about to leave with her, when he felt a pull. He looked back over towards the grave marker and walked towards it, kneeling down, deciding to pay his respects.

"Hey. I'm new in town, so I guess introductions are in order. I'm Dominic Pirelli." He began, as he dusted off the top of the grave marker. "I don't really know your ma very well at all. We've had about two conversations, one in which she didn't have patience for me whatsoever, and the other during which she just informed me on how annoying I am. But between you and me, I think she's just guarded. Your ma doesn't let very many people close, does she? Just a select few who have proven time and time again that they are worth her trust. Which, believe me, I understand. People can't be trusted. But I think Sam over there could use a few good friends to let in."

He knew Sam was close behind him, listening to him, but he continued as if she wasn't there at all. "I hear Michael is your brother? He's a good kid. You'd like him. He's a confused soul wrapped in a tough guy, but with some good pushes in the right direction, I think he'll be just fine. Maybe you could listen to your ma and help him out, though? I mean, in this world we all could use some guidance. Anyone would be grateful to have a sister out there somewhere doing just that. I know I would."

He found that he forgot about Sam altogether, his whole reason for being there. He felt a strange connection to the little girl to whom he spoke, and it wouldn't be for a while that he would find out exactly why. "Yeah. A little guidance could go a long way. I know you've got your hands full with keeping your family protected and safe, but if you have any time left over, I wouldn't object to a push in the right direction. Whichever that direction might be. You know, there's a lot in this world I don't get, and a lot of decisions I'll have to make that'll be hard. But then again, maybe instead of even giving me a glance, you should focus on the people you love. Your family. Because trust me, most of them will need it." He knew he was entering dangerous territory. He knew if he kept talking any longer, he would confess everything to this baby girl, and how he would soon be hurting the people she was meant to love and who were meant to love her.

He took a deep breath. "I know your ma is too good to ask for it yourself, but I'm sure she could use you, too. She ran out of Kelly's like a bat out of hell confusing the heck out of me to get to you, so obviously you mean a lot to her. I'm sure she means a lot to you, too, so do me a favor and keep an eye out on her."

He sat in silence for a moment before turning to face Sam, who had new tears in her eyes that she hadn't got to wiping away quite yet. "It was her birthday last week." She whispered, and Dante smiled, turning to face the marker once again.

"Well, happy birthday, Baby Girl McCall."

"Lila." Sam informed him.

"Happy birthday, Lila."

. . . . .

She watched him as he wished her daughter a happy birthday, and she knew that this guy was more than just the obnoxious flirt she had pegged him out to be. He stood off the ground and turned to face her, and when he smiled at her, she made a mental note to tell Jason that Dominic was someone she wanted him to keep an eye out for, someone she wanted Jason to make sure got the good end of Sonny's stick.

"Can I walk you home?" He asked her, and the only thing she could do was nod her head. He walked over to her, and before she knew what she was doing, she was letting him wrap his arms around her. It wasn't anything romantic, he wasn't making a move or over stepping any boundaries that would make Jason hunt him down or make Lulu second guess letting him in. It was a friendly hug, a comforting one.

They broke their hug, and she looked into his eyes, curiously. "Who are you?" She asked incredulously.

"Dominic Pirelli." He told her with a smirk. "But to some people, I'm the annoying town flirt."

She smiled softly. "Maybe, just maybe, you're more than that after all."

It was true what he had said to her baby girl. She was guarded, and it took a lot for her to let people in. There were few people she trusted with every part of her, and if she thought about it, maybe even only Jason had received that much. Lucky, Maxie, Spinelli, even Alexis and her sisters, sure they all had gotten pretty close. But there was always a fence around her, and if she was being honest with herself, she would admit that she never really had many friends at all.

He held out his hand, and she slowly took it. "Okay. Let's walk home." She said, considering that maybe, just maybe, Dominic could join her small list of friends.

. . . . .

They mostly walked in silence, which was something he didn't do quite often, being the smooth talker that he was. But it wasn't awkward, and to his surprise, it was kind of nice. He had shared something special tonight with this woman he barely knew, and by the way she hadn't bothered becoming defensive on their walk home, he knew she felt it, too.

They made their way up to her apartment building, and they both stopped as they got to the door. He knew he wouldn't be invited in, and he wouldn't ask to be. She needed to be alone, and for arguments sake, they still barely knew each other.

The comfortable silence turned into an awkward one as they stood at the door to the apartment building, neither one of them knowing what to say next. "I guess the awkward silence is my cue to go away." He attempted the joke.

It worked, and she smiled. "Yeah. Well, I'm sure I'll see you again soon somewhere. Annoying the hell out of someone, I'm sure."

"And here I thought we made progress." He laughed, feigning insult. "Take care of yourself, alright?"

She tilted her head, the fiery woman he had come to associate her with before their time in the cemetery coming back to life. "Don't worry about me. Been taking care of myself for years."

"I don't doubt that."

She turned to head inside, but stopped for a moment. "Thank you." She told him, taking him a bit by surprise with how honest she sounded.

"Nah, no problem." He said. "You would have done the same for me, right?" She raised her eyebrow. "Okay, well, now maybe you might."

She laughed. "I'll see you later, Dominic."

His smile faded a bit, hearing his fake name roll off her tongue. "Maybe we can get together one day for that cannoli."

"Bye Dominic."

He laughed. "Bye Sam."

She disappeared behind the apartment building door, and he continued to stand there for a minute. He would forget about badgering Sam for information about Claudia. He would find another way to get the evidence he needed. He turned to walk away, making his way back to his place.

He let the brisk November air cool him, as he began to clear his head. It was only a matter of time before he got what he needed against Sonny, and he knew that nothing could stop him from doing his job and being the undercover cop to finally take down the mob boss.

But that didn't stop him from feeling guilty. And as he walked away from Sam's place, the only thing that plagued his mind was the fact that he just made yet another friend in Port Charles. Someone he knew he could get close to who he would eventually let down.


End file.
